A. Field of the Invention
The device of the present invention generally relates to variable capacitors that provide a variable compressive force to a pair of spaced capacitive plates to vary the capacitance value of such capacitors by varying the spacing between the capacitive plates. Such variable capacitors are commonly referred to as compression trimmers.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Compression trimmers are well known in the prior art and are used in radio circuits and other similar electrical circuits to provide small ranges of capacitance values for such electrical circuits. Typically, compression trimmers are connected in electrical circuits by being soldered to printed circuit boards. The soldering of relatively small or miniature prior art compression trimmers to printed circuit boards often results in a deterioration in their electrical characteristics resulting from the presence of solder flux or solder in their capacitive plate structures. Solder flux and solder are often drawn by capillary action along the relatively short conductive terminals of such miniature compression trimmers to their capacitive plate structures during a soldering operation. The problem does not often occur for relatively large compression trimmers due to the substantially greater spacing of such relatively large compression trimmers from printed circuit boards.
An additional problem often encountered in the field of compression trimmers stems from the attempts to provide specific torque ratings for the rotating trimmer screws of typical compression trimmers. Many devices have been used to provide such torque ratings. Such devices are typically characterized by their notable lack of precision and simplicity.